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My author/illustrator friend, Nina Laden, posts the most delightful pictures of what she gathers, grows and cooks on Lummi Island (WA). Last week she shared a photo of two halves a giant porcini that weighed in at over one pound! … Continue reading →

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Amanita muscaria

I've always wondered why so many people are obsessed with this pretty, but toxic, mushroom. It's associated with fairies, and often found in books with gnomes and fairytales. Looking into it, there is a lot of druidic background to the Fly Agaric, and there are a few opinions on how it got it's name. It's more than a little mysterious, and amply deserves a spot in my October gallery.

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Mi Blog ha estado olvidado, pero ha empezado un nuevo año (hace rato, ya lo sé) y espero actualizarlo, al menos una vez a la semana. Han pasado muchas cosas que me han mantenido desconectada, entre ellas: construir una casa, ahora estoy viviendo en el campo, lejos de la ciudad, hay mucho verde a mi alrededor y estoy acompañada por mis perros, gatos y mi novio. En resumen ha sido un cambio maravilloso, pero hemos trabajado mucho en la casa y no he tenido mucho tiempo de concentrarme en mis proyectos personales.

Esta ilustración es del año pasado de Noviembre, pero no la había publicado. Fue hecha para una convocatoria de la página 27pm.net, que es un proyecto colectivo de ilustradores, para su exposición “Mundos desconocidos”. Las fotografías son de Natalia Uribe, gracias Naty.

 

My Blog has being kind of forgotten, but a new year has begun (long time ago, I know) and I hope to update it at least once a week. Lots of things have happen that have kept me away, like: building a house, I now live in the country, far from the city, there is a lot of green around me and I am accompanied by my dogs, cats and my boyfriend. Briefly its been a wonderful change, but we have been working a lot on the house, and I haven´t had much time to concentrate on my personal projects.

This is an illustration I did last year on November, but I hadn´t publish it. It was made for a web page called 27pm.net, that is a project of a collective of illustrators, for it exhibit “Mundos desconocidos” (Unknown Worlds). The photograph is from Natalia Uribe, thanks Naty.

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By Nicholas P. Money

A grown-up neighbor in the English village of my childhood told stories about angels that sat upon our shoulders and fairies that lived in her snapdragons. Like the other kids, I searched her flowers for a glimpse of the sprites, but agnosticism imbibed from my parents quickly overruled this innocent play. Yet there was magic in my neighbor’s garden and I had seen real angels on her lawn: little stalked bells that poked from the dew-drenched grass on autumn mornings; evanescent beauties whose delicately balanced caps quivered to the touch. By afternoon they were gone, shriveled into the greenery. Does any living thing seem more supernatural to a child than a mushroom? Their prevalence in fairy tale illustrations and fantasy movies suggests not. Like no other species, the strangeness of fungi survives the loss of innocence about the limits of nature. They trump the supernatural, their magic intensifying as we learn more about them.

Once upon a time, I spent 30 years studying mushrooms and other fungi. Now, as my scientific interests broaden with my waistline, I would like to share three things that I have learned about the meaning of life from thinking about these extraordinary sex organs and the microbes that produce them. This mycological inquiry has revealed the following: (i) life on land would collapse without the activities of mushrooms; (ii) we owe our existence to mushrooms; and (iii) there is (probably) no God. The logic is spotless.

Mushrooms are masterpieces of natural engineering. The overnight appearance of the fruit body is a pneumatic process, with the inflation of millions of preformed cells extending the stem, pushing earth aside, and unfolding the cap. Once exposed, the gills of a meadow mushroom shed an astonishing 30,000 spores per second, delivering billions of allergenic particles into the air every day. A minority of spores alights and germinates on fertile ground and some species are capable of spawning the largest and longest-lived organisms on the planet. Mushroom colonies burrow through soil and rotting wood. Some hook into the roots of forest trees and engage in mutually supportive symbioses; others are pathogens that decorate their food sources with hardened hooves and fleshy shelves. Mushrooms work with insects too, fed by and feeding leaf-cutter ants in the New World and termites in the Old World. Among the staggering diversity of mushroom-forming fungi we also find strange apparitions including gigantic puffballs, phallic eruptions with revolting aromas, and tiny “bird’s nests” whose spore-filled eggs are splashed out by raindrops.

Mushrooms have been around for tens of millions of years and their activities are indispensable for the operation of the biosphere. Through their relationships with plants and animals, mushrooms are essential for forest and grassland ecology, climate control and atmospheric chemistry, water purification, and the maintenance of biodiversity. This first point, about the ecological significance of mushrooms, is obvious, yet the 16,000 described species of mushroom-forming fungi are members of the most poorly understood kingdom of life. The second point requires a dash of lateral thinking. Because humans evolved in ecosystems dependent upon mushrooms there would be no us without mushrooms. And no matter how superior we feel, humans remain dependent upon the continual activity of these fungi. The relationship isn’t reciprocal: without us there would definitely be mushrooms. Judged against the rest of life (and, so often, we do place ourselves against the rest of nature) humans can be considered as a recent and damag

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There's a new piece a brewin'

Months ago a close friend of mine had a birthday. Yay! I thought how wonderful would it be if I did a painting just for her (she does like my work after all). Since then it's been an uphill battle. Not with her, but with the piece.

Many revisions happened, but to me the piece was too stiff and didn't portray the emotion she wanted shown. This piece is to be hung in the house as a reminder of God's strength shown through our weakness. A motivation and assurance for her.

Although the last revision had beauty, movement, and lush detail....it just didn't have the soul or heart I felt needed to be present.

FINALLY the seal broke and we have a heart felt sketch...but not without pain.

If you look real close you can see all of the erase marks. TONS of erase marks. Over and over. I was going to sell the sketch, but with the amount of erasing and the crease that happened by catching the drawing as it fell towards the floor, I don't believe its sell worthy any more.

I also went through some major emotions and physical pain this past week concerning my own walk with God and my faith. But through the love and prayer of those close to me I feel lifted up, and I know all is well, that God is here helping me.

SO now it's time to put it all together. I'm waiting for my new large 14x20 watercolor block in the mail to transfer. Rach, if you're reading this....don't settle on a frame until you see it finished....I believe this is going to be bigger than planned. ;)


This small thumbnail sketch is the concept for the piece. I will be following this when I draw the whole thing out. More mushrooms in a forest. Yay!

The reference for the figure is taken from http://bobbistock.deviantart.com/gallery/27097211#/d1jj6cd with slight modifications (face and her right arm).

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Don't want anyone to miss out!

In one week I will be giving away an original watercolor painting!!

Painting Stats:
Title: Button
Image Size: 2.5 x 5.5 Inches
Paper Size: 4 x 6 inches
Value: $40.00

Painted on the finest Arches 140lbs. Hot Press watercolor paper using professional watercolors that will last lifetimes. Title, signature, and year created will also be on the paper below the painting in white space provided. My signature "SMB" is within the painting, as always in the lower right hand corner. Signature watermark will not appear on original painting.

RULES
MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit my Etsy Shop and find your favorite listing. Then visit my blog on Warrior Princess' Dream and comment what it was (required).

ADDITIONAL CHANCES TO WIN: Must do the MANDATORY entry before these, otherwise they don't count.

• 1 entry - Heart my etsy shop sarambutcher.etsy.com then post so below
• 1 entry - Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment below with the link
• 1 entry - Share this giveaway with a direct link on Facebook, then leave a comment below
• 1 entry - Become a fan of Sara B. Illustration on Facebook and let me know with a comment below
• 2 entries - Add my link to your blog roll and let me know where it is
• 3 entries - Blog about this giveaway with a direct link to the contest page, then leave an additional comment with the direct link to your post so that I can view it
• 4 entries - Purchase something from my shop at embraceletsdesign.etsy.com 

One post per entry and please include your name and email address, so I can contact you if you win. I will use Random.org to determine the winner.

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FINALLY...Alice is complete!:) i have been working on several things at once these past 2 weeks which is why it took a bit longer to finish this than i would have liked. but, i am happy to say that she is done and FOR SALE in my etsy shop here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/73530955/alice-from-wonderland-original-painting
she is FOR SALE as an ORIGINAL! usually i offer prints, but this cutie is going as is. hopefully she will make some little girl SMILE:)

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my version of Alice...from Wonderland! for the last couple of weeks, i just wanted to draw up little Alice bec i couldn't get the idea out of my head (which is OVERFLOWING with ideas at ALL times)! so, this is what i came up with. i am anxiously awaiting dipping my brush into my paint and getting started!!!! this will be offered as an ORIGINAL in my etsy shop as soon as it is complete. it is on an 11x14 stretched canvas (as opposed to the boards which i usually use for my illustrations). that is why i will be offering it as an ORIGINAL. oh, and by the way, there is and never will be a cheshire cat in any Alice illustrations i do! everyone who knows me knows how i feel about cats...NOT A FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! just sayin'...;)

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I just realized my blog now has 100 posts. Woo! Woo! It’s taken me awhile, but I think I’m getting into the groove with it.

The weather in September and August here was pretty lousy, so we’re hoping for what our German friends keep telling us may happen: a “Golden October.” So far, October has been a massive improvement. As in, no need for long underwear and a wool coat and umbrella for the last few days.

Ever since we got here, even though we knew it was a cool, rainy, climate, we’ve been surprised at just how cool and rainy it is, especially in months we used to think of as summer months. The locals tell us again and again that it’s “not usually this bad,” that this year has been record-breakingly cool.

We’ve been here six months as of today! I can’t believe it. After six months, it’s a little bit easier to think of the cool rainy-ness as being normal and to just get over it.  A little bit. Definitely we’ve adopted the local custom of (if possible) dropping everything and running outside when the sun shines. Another useful local habit is to dress for the weather and go outside anyway, which is also a good idea. Otherwise you would never get out.

With all the additional rain, it looks to be the year of the bumper mushroom crop. Mushrooms, like all seasonal produce, are taken very seriously here. There are several kinds, and restaurants are sporting full-page seasonal mushroom menus.

The photo at the top of the post is of mushrooms I found in the forest (don’t worry, I won’t eat any mushrooms unless they’re coming from a vendor). They look like little aliens to me. I’m sure there are plenty of mushroom varieties in North Carolina, but I definitely notice them here more, probably because I’m outside more.

The mushrooms above are called pfifferlinge. Aren’t they beautiful? I bought some and cooked them up, not really knowing what I was doing. They tasted fine, but I think I would rather have them served to me properly at a restaurant. I looked up the English translation for this particular mushroom: chanterelle. Funny that the “English” is actually French, eh? It makes sense when you consider that English is mainly made up of French and German and that, as far as I know, English-speaking people aren’t in general quite as passionate about their mushrooms. Chanterelles and pfifferlinge are much more specific and interesting than the prosaic “mushrooms.”

I’ll be back next week, hopefully with some newsy news which I’m excited to share with you.

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